Good and Bad Election News
Blessings on you and your family from all the Huckabee staff! Thank you for subscribing and I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter.
And for those who missed it, the top story on my website is here: EXCLUSIVE: KARI LAKE ON ARIZONA ELECTION COUNT - Latest Stories - Mike Huckabee
Mike
DAILY BIBLE VERSE
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
Ephesians 2:8
Good and Bad Election News
As we continue the endless vote count in the People’s Republic of America, it’s now a full week past Election Day, and 14 House races still haven’t been called. The good news is that, at this writing, with 218 needed to win the majority, the Republicans now hold 217 and the Democrats 205.
https://www.politico.com/2022-election/results/house/
The Republicans reached 217 after California GOP Rep. Ken Calvert won the recently-redrawn and more Democrat-heavy District 41.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-rep-calvert-wins-election-competitive-california-house-seat
The Republicans need just one more win, while the Dems have to win every remaining race, including 3 rated as toss-ups and 5 that lean or are likely GOP. I’d suggest bias in the media’s reluctance to call it, but then, we all know about the mysterious rule of mathematics that the longer it takes to count ballots, the more of them are marked Democrat, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility.
But at least two media outlets, NBC and the Daily Caller, are finally projecting that the GOP will take the House by 219-216. That seems likely, barring a “miracle” for the Democrats (like the dead rising to vote...again.) That means the end of Biden’s radical legislation, so Americans can breathe a sigh of relief. Even Biden admitted there will be no “codifying of Roe v. Wade” (which is code for “a national abortion law far more radical than Roe that allows for killing babies in the womb right up to the moment of birth,” the kind California just passed to its eternal shame.)
The important thing for House GOP leaders to remember is four letters that I mentioned before: “WWPD: What Would Pelosi Do?” Would Nancy Pelosi say, “Well, we have only a very slim majority, so obviously, Americans are very divided. Therefore, we should share power, look for ways to compromise, and not try to silence, investigate or force our agenda on the minority”? I’ll proceed after you finish laughing.
And now, the very bad news, not just for the GOP but for Arizona: Democrat Katie Hobbs is now projected to win the Governor’s race over Republican Kari Lake. Supposedly, the vote from Maricopa County wasn’t weighted toward Lake enough to overcome Hobb’s narrow lead. But this could take a while because there’s a good chance that state law will require a recount.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/arizona-governor-hobbs-lake-recount-state-law
Some are arguing that there should be a revote because Election Day was so badly botched under the supervision of Hobbs herself, who as Secretary of State didn't have the basic integrity to recuse herself from overseeing an election that she was competing in. It’s kind of like acting as both a quarterback and the referee in the Super Bowl. Whether due to incompetence or other reasons, tech “issues” in mostly red areas of Maricopa County led to line waits of up to seven hours and who knows how many Lake voters having to leave without voting, with a judge refusing to extend voting hours. As Kari Lake quite reasonably put it, we finally have an actual example of “voter suppression.”
For those who tarred Lake as an “election denier” for being suspicious of suspicious elections, if that’s so, then there are an awful lot of crazy conspiracy theorists out there. A new Rasmussen survey taken during and after last week’s elections found that 57% of Americans think it’s likely that cheating affected the results, and that includes 30% who think it’s “very likely.” Those are the highest numbers ever. And while they’re highest among Republicans (79%), 50% of Independents and even 40% of Democrats agree that it’s likely cheating affected the outcomes.
This is a grave problem, and not just because I’m a Republican who thinks the results should’ve gone the other way. Whenever a majority of Americans lose faith in the trustworthiness of the election process, they also lose faith in the fundamental idea of America as a place where the government rules by the consent of the people.
I’ve been warning for years as some factions worked to loosen voter integrity laws in the name of “fighting voter suppression” that every illegal vote negates a legitimate vote and deprives someone of a say in determining self-government. When Americans lose faith in their elections, they lose faith in what makes America America. It could mark the beginning of the end of this great experiment in democracy if we don’t do something to restore that faith, and fast.
Related: Here’s a suggestion of how to reform the California law that’s allowed ballot harvesting that’s undermined election integrity.
https://redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2022/11/15/auto-draft-61-n659144
The next question is how to reform ballot harvesting when the people who’d have to reform it are in office because of it. A clue to how difficult that is can be found in the fact that this article initially ran in 2020, and it’s only gotten worse. Will it take Republicans fighting fire with fire by ballot harvesting, too? And if they do get back into power that way, will they have the will to fix it?
More on Kari Lake
If indeed Katie Hobbs prevails in Arizona, I’m sure this will be just the bumpy beginning of Kari Lake’s political career. She’s one of the most dynamic, impressive and articulate conservative messengers I’ve seen in years. She'll be fine, but I pray for the people of Arizona who didn’t vote for her. They’ll be stuck with a Governor who refused even to attempt to defend her views in a debate, and who believes that securing late term abortions is more important than securing the border…in ARIZONA!
They’d better pray for a GOP Congress and President in 2024, because I can’t imagine that their likely Governor is going to help stop the fresh flood of illegal border crossers, criminals and drugs that will soon be coming Arizona’s way.
On a side note, it’s worth pointing out that even as Kari Lake appears to have been defeated largely due to “voting irregularities,” she continues to be described in every article as an “election denier” who thinks the 2020 election was rigged. I’m sure this vote will convince her that we have the most secure and trustworthy elections in the world. That rote opinionated smear presented as fact was mostly why a recent study ranked 100% of the media coverage of Lake as “negative” (again, I’m sure that will help convince her that the system isn’t rigged.)
Even if it doesn’t rise to the level of outright rigging the game, it’s definitely tilting the table. It’s also one of constant examples of how today’s “journalists” couldn’t have passed a Journalism 101 course 50 years ago. I noticed another in the recent coverage of Dave Chappelle hosting “Saturday Night Live.” Virtually every story matter-of-factly described Chappelle as being controversial “because of his transphobic and homophobic jokes.” But most people who watched his specials didn’t think his jokes were “transphobic and homophobic.” That was an accusation made by extremely partisan activists with an ax to grind, not an established fact, but the “journalists” presented it as the latter.
There’s a reason why stories about people accused of murder but not convicted don’t describe them as “murderers.” I wonder why that simple rule of journalism never applies to anyone accused of thought crimes by the left.
Today’s Must-Read
An open letter to conservatives in Georgia about why it’s crucial for them to turn out and vote for Herschel Walker in the Senate run-off, even if Democrats do already have 50 seats in the Senate. Yes, it can make a very big difference. And as I tried to warn Pennsylvania voters who sent John Fetterman to the Senate, this person is going to be half your representation in Washington for at least six years. Don’t let him be a rubber stamp for Chuck Schumer like Raphael Warnock.